The copper alloy wires containing iron and phosphorus have excellent abrasion resistance. Benefits of using the materials for the trolley wires of a railroad includes less frequent replacement of the wire. Therefore, usage of the copper alloy wire containing iron and phosphorus could reduce maintaining cost of the trolley wires.
As a method of producing the copper alloy wires containing iron and phosphorus, Patent Document 1 disclosed a continuous casting method.
In the method, after molten copper is poured out from a shaft furnace where a copper raw material is molten, the molten copper is held in a non-oxidizing atmosphere for certain period of time. Then, oxygen gas and hydrogen gas are removed from the molten copper by a degassing apparatus. A first alloy element is then added to the molten copper while the molten copper is heated by a heating furnace to a high temperature. Thereafter, the molten copper is transferred to a tundish via a trough, and a second alloy element is added to the molten copper in the tundish. By adding iron as the first alloy element and phosphorus as the second alloy element, the copper alloy containing iron and phosphorus can be produced. An ingot is produced by transferring the molten copper from the tundish into a graphite mold, and finally, the copper alloy wires are obtained after applying extrusion processing on the ingot.
As a method of continuously producing a copper alloy wire, Patent Document 2 disclosed a method, in which a belt wheel-type apparatus was used, with integrated casting and rolling processes.
The main part of the continuous casting apparatus with the belt wheel is made of an endless belt which moves circularly and a casting wheel which is rotated by having a part of its circumference to contact with the endless belt. The continuous casting apparatus is connected to a large melting furnace such as a shaft furnace and is also connected to a rolling apparatus. In the configuration, the molten copper output from the melting furnace is continuously cast and rolled, producing a copper wire in the production line at high speed. Therefore, the belt wheel-type continuous casting apparatus can achieve high productivity and enables mass production, reducing production cost of the copper wire consequently.    Patent Document: 1 Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-341268    Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-314950